RED LAKE 鈥� A lot has been happening lately at Red Lake High 歪歪漫画.
The Warriors are celebrating homecoming this week, adding another chapter to what has been a transformative fall. The school installed a new digital scoreboard, and progress is taking place on a brand-new weight room.
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Red Lake hosted Mahnomen/Waubun on Thursday night and welcomed in Tom and Meredith Olson, two donors whose family was instrumental in getting the scoreboard installed. The occasion added another layer to what was already a festive night featuring senior player and parent recognition at halftime.
鈥淚t's a great opportunity for our kids, having a scoreboard here from this donation,鈥� said head coach Nolan Desjarlait. 鈥淲e're getting a lot of kids coming out for football this year, more than we had in the past several years. So it's a big plus for us. The brand-new lights, brand-new scoreboard (are nice). We just need more kids to come on out and try to play football.鈥�
The Warriors have struggled to field enough players for a while, but with increasing investment in the program, there is excitement for brighter days ahead.
鈥淔or my junior high kids, we have 25 in the program right now, and that's a good plus,鈥� Desjarlait said. 鈥淚 know that's a wave coming for us. And that's the kind of wave I want to have. Years down the road with this stuff right here, it鈥檒l go a long way. We鈥檒l play Friday nights, 7 p.m. We want to be just like any other high school team. We want to compete and have fun, and the bottom line is that we want to get a win.鈥�
The Olsons discovered the program and its joys and tribulations via in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, which spotlighted the Warriors鈥� perseverance in the face of a two-decade-long losing streak. They felt compelled to give after reading how Desjarlait invested so heavily in his players on and off the field.
鈥淚t struck us,鈥� Meredith said. 鈥淚t was an awesome story and heartwarming, and we were right at a time when we were trying to think about places where our family might make a contribution to help others. 鈥� We all came together and unanimously decided that we wanted to donate what we felt and heard (was) a much-needed scoreboard for this football team in hopes that it would make them proud of their school, their field, their program and their commitment to football.鈥�
The Olson family spent the day in Red Lake, taking in the homecoming pep rally and the Warriors volleyball team鈥檚 3-0 sweep over Fond du Lac Ojibwe 歪歪漫画. Though they had been to Bemidji before, they had never made it up to Red Lake before Thursday. The experience was one they won鈥檛 soon forget.
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鈥淚t was neat as we were walking around the school, just the number of times a student would come up and say thank you for the scoreboard,鈥� Tom said. 鈥淎nd it wasn't because there was a teacher 10 feet behind him or her saying, 鈥楪o thank them.鈥� It was spontaneous. 鈥� It seems like it's had a truly meaningful impact on people.鈥�
For Red Lake 歪歪漫画s Superintendent Tim Lutz, the gift signified a sincere endorsement of a program and team of people who invested in a group of young men despite the challenges and time commitment involved in doing so.
鈥淚t's giving the guys a sense of pride in who they are,鈥� Lutz said. 鈥淚 think that for years, Indigenous people or people from this area have felt like they were marginalized. They probably still do. But there's a lot of pride in seeing the development of the new weight room or our new lights, our new scoreboard.
鈥淎nd if we're talking about developing future leaders, a big part of that is instilling that sense of self-worth, that sense of pride, that sense of sportsmanship and being a part of a team. (It鈥檚) that connection, which I think makes a huge difference in the lives of young people, that they belong. They're part of something bigger than just themselves.鈥�
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